Paper Trail
by Michelle167
Summary: Kaidan and his team investigate an old Cerberus facility. Kaidan-centric. Dark Fic.


Was having writer's block...again. It's just that there are only so many ways you can reconcile Kaidan and Shepard before it starts getting old, so I wanted to do something different and wound up with this new dark fic. This doesn't really have any Shenko and has a bit of violence in it so if you're not into that sort of thing...don't read.

Kaidan and his team explore an old Cerberus facility. Kaidan centric.

I do not own Bioware.

Paper Trail.

The facility was littered with debris and dust had built up in thick layers over time. Despite the fact that it looked abandoned there were still telltale signs that they were not alone. Occasionally movement would register in the corner of Kaidan's eyes, but when he turned to look there was only emptiness.

"The place is haunted I tell you...we should leave." The lanky, pale soldier nervously fiddled with his pistol, a habit that was quickly making Kaidan nervous. All they needed was a scared, green trigger happy private going postal in the middle of an unknown situation.

"What is it Barefield...you afraid of the wind?" Coskins was a hardened soldier. Someone Kaidan knew he could count on in any given situation. He had personally hand picked him for this mission. He followed orders and knew how to keep his mouth shut. Barefield had simply been the luck of the draw and for the last few minutes, Kaidan wasn't sure the draw had been so lucky.

"It' isn't the wind...my Grandma lived in a haunted house back on earth and it had this feel to it...it's the same thing here." The young private stopped fiddling with his firearm enough for Kaidan to relax a little. Maybe talking about it would relieve some of the tension.

"And what exactly is this feeling, Private?" asked Kaidan.

"Can't explain it really...it just feels like something ain't right...like something bad happened," Barefield explained.

"If he starts saying he sees dead people, I'm gonna knock him out, Commander," replied Coskins.

Kaidan snickered. The base had been showing old vids last night and both Kaidan and Coskins had stayed to watch. Thankfully, Barefield had been absent. Kaidan hated to think what his state of mind would have been if he had been there.

"What? Dead people? What are you talking about?" The private looked concerned.

"Nothing...Barefield, Coskins was just making a joke." Kaidan explained.

"The supernatural isn't something to joke about....my Grandma always said..." Barefield started.

"Screw your Grandma...there aren't any ghosts here...look around...the dust has been disturbed...there...over there...and there." Coskins waved his hand in the air pointing out the obvious signs of life in the facility. Barefield's ramblings were starting to get to the seasoned soldier and his rant was a means of steadying his own nerves.

Even Kaidan could feel the spookiness of the old facility beginning to get the better of him as a shiver ran up his spine. Supposedly it had been deserted for years at least by the personnel or that's what they had been told by their informant. It was one of the oldest Cerberus Facilities found to date.

"Yeah, well even if someone is here...it could still be haunted," Barefield retaliated.

"Why don't you just shut the hell up, Barefield! I don't want to hear anymore about your Grandma and haunted houses!" Coskins exploded.

"I was just giving my opinion." he replied.

Kaidan looked sympathetically at the younger recruit. It seemed he didn't know when to give it a rest. Coskins was not the kind to back down. If Barefield didn't stop soon, the eeriness of the deserted Cerberus facility would be the least of their problems.

To avoid an all out war, Kaidan intervened.

"Knock it off...the both of you...we have a job to do!"

"Yes sir," the two said in unison as they eyed one another.

The three soldiers, ready and alert, began to make their way down the small corridor, which quickly forked into two smaller hallways leading in opposite directions.

"Coskins...you take the left...Barefield you come with me, " Kaidan ordered.

Coskins nodded as he made for the hall on the left, leaving Kaidan and Barefield to head right.

"You think that was a good idea, Commander...I mean who knows what we might find here?" whispered Barefield.

A year and a half ago he would have allowed Barefield's comment to torment him. Had he made the right decision? But Kaidan Alenko was not exactly the same man he had been a year and a half ago. He had agonized over obeying Shepard's orders on the Normandy...over leaving her behind to face her death alone. What if he had disobeyed...could he have saved her? With time he realized that questioning his decision would never bring her back...no matter how much he wanted it to...so he had stop questioning.

"It was an order Barefield...not a request," Kaidan stated.

The young private swallowed hard.

"Yes sir," he said quietly.

As they made their way down the winding corridor Kaidan couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched and every once in a while...just for a moment...it felt as if a mass effect field was powering up...more evidence that they were not alone...neither Coskins nor Barefield were biotic.

Turning the corner the two made their way into what looked to be a ransacked office.

"Commander!" Barefield nodded towards a computer terminal that sat silently to itself in the corner. A low light emitted from its screen. It was an old model...very old. Kaidan pressed the enter key on the ancient keyboard and it sprang to life with a steady hum.

Four entries appeared on the screen marked by their post dates. Kaidan selected the last entry posted and a vid popped up on the screen. The visual playback was badly damaged, but the audio was clear.

"Jordans says the project is a wash...the subject is too unstable. I've contacted headquarters and they've agreed that it needs to be scrubbed. I'll be removing any evidence of our involvement and myself and Rains will move our things to the new facilities. Hopefully with some minor tweaks to the program our next subject in Project Icarus will be more successful. As for the subject, headquarters has ordered her termination."

"What about a new subject?" A second voice asked.

"We've already chosen one. Her name is Jack. We're even changing the project name...don't want anyone tracing the new project to this one...or to what went wrong." The first voice answered.

The fuzzy picture flickered and finally went out...the audio went cold.

"Project Icarus...what's that?" asked Barefield.

"Don't know," answered Kaidan shaking his head.

"What's an Icarus anyway?" Barefield questioned.

"Greek myth...he and his father were imprisoned on the island of Crete. The father made a pair of wings for each of them so that they might escape..." Kaidan explained.

"So they flew away..." Barefield interrupted.

"Not exactly...the wings were made of wax and feathers. The father warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun or the wings would melt. He was so exhilarated at being able to fly that he got too close and the wings melted. He fell into the sea and died." Kaidan wrinkled his brow wondering just how this might fit with what Cerberus was doing here.

"Why would they name a project after something like that?" asked a puzzled Barefield.

Kaidan shook his head, "Maybe what they were shooting for was both a high goal and a huge risk."

The words out of Kaidan's mouth felt right...as though he had answered Barefield's question accurately. Evidently Barefield himself was satisfied as well...he had fallen silent.

Kaidan selected the next latest entry.

The vid screen sprang to life.

"Turn the camera's off! Headquarters doesn't need to see this..." A man in a lab coat was running around a small room trying to clean up what looked like a large amount of blood covering both the walls and the floors.

"Did you hear me...turn it off!" he yelled again.

The picture jerked to the right in what Kaidan would have guessed was the camera being ripped out of position.

The man turned to face the camera and began to scream, "Noooooo!"

The vid once again went silent as the screen went blank.

"What the hell was going on here?" asked a clearly upset Barefield.

Kaidan was frozen...had he seen what he thought he had seen...a blue arc...biotics? Was this another one of Cerberus's biotic projects? The thought made him go cold inside. The mass effect fields he had sensed earlier...could the project still be here?

Barefield didn't wait for Kaidan to click on the next entry...he did it himself.

Like the first vid this one was also somewhat fuzzy.

"I'm not going to ask you again...move the crate!" A burly man stood in the middle of what looked like a converted docking bay. Kaidan couldn't even make out the man's features nor the features of the figure sitting defeatedly on the floor in front of him. The best he could make out was that the figure was female and had dark hair which was draped over her face. She seemed disoriented at best.

"Move the damn crate!" he yelled again.

When his demand wasn't met, he grabbed a whip that had been hooked onto the side of his belt, swung back and lashed out, connecting with the girl across her neck and shoulders. Kaidan winced in unison with the recipient. Standing in shock both Barefield and Kaidan watched as the girl was continuously lashed with the whip, her whimpers being drowned out only by the angry shouts of her tormentor.

Memories flooded Kaidan's consciousness...memories he would have rather kept buried. Vyrnnus slapping him for not moving something quick enough...hitting him for not lifting something high enough...punching him for not keeping his barrier on long enough. The other kids in BAAT had it rough, but not as bad as Kaidan...he had become Vyrnnus's personal punching bag. It had only spurred him on to push harder...something that in the end had caused him to excel as far as his biotics were concerned.

If the screen had not gone black, Kaidan would have shut it down.

Barefield's finger hovered over the enter key. He looked at his commanding officer. Rather reluctantly Kaidan nodded. In spite of his misgivings he wanted to see this through...Cerberus had to be exposed for every inhumane thing they had ever done.

Barefield hit enter.

"She seems fine...physically she's fit...mentally stable...I think she's a perfect candidate for the project." The man speaking was the same man from the first vid they had viewed.

"I agree...she's perfect for the project. What do you think Dr. Jordans?" A small short man who was fiddling with his glasses looked up to a much taller man standing beside him. The man nodded.

"Agreed...she's the perfect candidate. We should start processing immediately."

The camera panned to the left and zoomed in on the selected subject for Project Icarus. Kaidan took in her face before the camera's went blank and the terminal screen died.

"Oh God!" he said.

"What's the matter, Commander? You look like you've seen a ghost." Barefield looked at the ashen complexion of his commanding officer.

Kaidan steadied himself. He had not expected what he had seen. It couldn't be...could it? The past seemed to be beckoning.

"Commander!" Coskins voice came through the comm link. It was enough to pull Kaidan back into the present.

"This is Commander Alenko," Kaidan steadied himself as he answered.

"I think you better get over here...I'm really starting to freak out..." Coskins voice was uncharacteristically shaky.

"What's the problem?" Kaidan asked.

'I'm not alone, and I can't get a fix on who's following me" Coskins rasped.

Kaidan looked up at Barefield and nodded. The private began to move back the way the two had come with Kaidan following close behind. Putting his finger to his earpiece Kaidan said, "We're on our way!"

"Commander...hurry I think...." the comm link went dead.

Cautiously, yet quickly the two soldiers made their way to Coskins last location.

The question of Coskins safety was quickly put to rest as they entered the room that held what was left of the soldier's comm link. The floor and walls were drenched in blood...fresh blood. Kaidan noted how much it resembled the room from the the vids they had just watched. What kind of monster had Cerberus created?

He gazed over at his companion just in time to see the young private lurch forward, eliminating the contents of his stomach onto the blood stained floor. Beads of sweat had formed on his forehead and he was close to going over the edge.

The dark shadows within the room seemed to be playing tricks on Kaidan's mind as he tried to get a fix on Coskins remains. He swore he could see mangled body parts lying among the debris. It even looked like Coskins out stretched arm was reaching out for him from among the clutter. How strong must a biotic be to literally be able to pull someone apart like that? The thought caused Kaidan to shudder.

"What do we do?" Barefield's voice quivered.

Kaidan knew he needed to get both of them out of there before one of them lost it.

"Listen to me...Barefield you hear me?" asked Kaidan grabbing the privates shoulders firmly.

Barefield nodded, his attention now turned to his commanding officer.

"We're going to back out of here and return to the shuttle...you understand?" Kaidan asked.

"Yes Sir." The private seemed to calm down at the news that they were leaving.

"Okay just follow me and stay close," said Kaidan.

Retracing their steps they found themselves back at the fork in the hallway.

"We need to be careful...especially when we get to the entrance," Kaidan began but Barefield was already gone.

At the sight of the light breaking through the windows of the entrance, Barefield had bolted, leaving Kaidan quickly behind.

"Barefield...slow down," Kaidan yelled in a half-hushed tone as he saw the soldier disappear up the hallway.

That's when Kaidan felt it...a mass effect field...and it was strong.

Barefield's screams were immediate and then they were silent. Kaidan had been spared the image of his death since the private had quickly moved out of his sights.

"And then there was one!" The voice trembled eerily. The words were followed by childish laughter.

The picture from the vid sprang to his mind. Perhaps he could reason with her.

"What do you want?" he called out.

Silence.

"I can help you if you'll just tell me what you want," Kaidan tried again.

"Too late to help...I know you." The voice sounded unstable.

"I know you do...and you can trust me...I won't hurt you...I promise." Kaidan could feel the sweat pouring from his forehead. He still couldn't get a fix on where the voice was coming from, so he held his position.

"You've hurt other people...I saw you," the girl responded.

Kaidan winced. She wasn't entirely gone...a part of her still remained...and she remembered.

"I know...he hurt you...and he was going to hurt me," Kaidan said.

"So you killed him...that's what you do when someone tries to hurt you...you kill them." Her voice had almost faded to a whisper.

"No...you're not a killer Rahna...you couldn't do that...you wouldn't..." Kaidan had seen the tapes...he knew what she had done.

"But Rahna wouldn't hurt anyone," he thought, yet the proof had played out right before him.

"I did kill...just like you..and now you're going to try and hurt me too!"

The figure came out of nowhere. Kaidan could barely recognize the wild and unkempt woman in front of him...her face was so twisted with rage The blue arc that bore down upon him missed him by only a few inches as he dodged to the right and rolled just out of its reach. Instinctively he flicked his hand and Rahna was thrown up against the wall. She screamed wildly and growled as she slid to the ground. Scrambling to her feet she ran towards him, again throwing a blue arc his way. Kaidan felt himself thrown off balance as he was trying to struggle to his feet. Seconds before she could descend on him he lifted her out of his path and she pummeled into the ceiling. A small whimper was followed by her body dropping lifelessly to the ground. He neck had been snapped in two.

Kaidan sat in silence for what seemed to be hours just staring at the haggard corpse of the girl he had once loved.

He had let go of Rahna years ago and had completely wiped her from his mind once he had met Shepard, but now the cold corpse before him reminded him of all he had lost. Shepard's body had never been found and he had never really been able to put her to rest. Inching his way to where Rahna lay, Kaidan gathered her up in his arms and began to weep unabashedly...for Rahna...for Shepard...for his men...and for himself.

Nightfall came quickly and Kaidan gathered himself. The ship would be expecting a report soon and if he didn't call in they would be sending someone. Collecting himself he stood and gazed down on Rahna's body. A crisp clean piece of paper caught his attention...it looked out of place in the dark dusty facility. He stooped to pick it up, noticing three numbers scrawled across the top. Kaidan's mind began to turn. He quickly returned to the terminal and entered the three numbers. The screen glowed green and the four data entries that he and Barefield had viewed earlier returned...this time followed by a fifth.

Kaidan clicked on the new entry.

"This is data entry 0001. First data entry for Project Icarus with Cerberus. We are in the process of screening possible candidates and have narrowed the list down to three. One of the candidates was with the original BAAT program."

Kaidan watched as the list of candidates rolled down the screen, noting Rahna's name when it came into view. He hesitated. Did he really want to continue viewing? Perhaps downloading the information into his omni tool would be the better course of action...let others examine Cerberus's secrets. In the end his curiosity won out.

"Project Icarus is a continuation of research first established with the BAAT program. Studies showed that abusive behaviors towards certain subjects could produce heightened biotic abilities. The results were realized when a pattern was established that subjects that received the greatest abuse if they remained stable developed the greatest biotic abilities. Abusive behavior by instructor involved in BAAT program was overlooked and ignored by Conatix personnel to test theory. Tests proved successful through Subject 00082...Kaidan Alenko. Project and research abandoned after incident( refer to classified files for details)."

Kaidan stepped back in shock. Was how Vrynnus treated him back at BAAT how all this began? He shook his head in disbelief. They had destroyed Rahna because of him. They would no doubt destroy their next subject...Jack. The guilt he normally would have felt was overwhelmed by hate. The Cerberus logo looked accusingly up at him from the monitor. Angrily gazing into the screen he growled, "I will destroy you!"


End file.
